Q&A for How to Collect Hydrogen

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Do I need two test tubes if I want to collect hydrogen only?

Bess Ruff, MA
Environmental Scientist
Bess Ruff is a Geography PhD student at Florida State University. She received her MA in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2016. She has conducted survey work for marine spatial planning projects in the Caribbean and provided research support as a graduate fellow for the Sustainable Fisheries Group.

Bess Ruff, MA

Environmental Scientist

Expert Answer

If you only want to collect hydrogen using the electrolysis method you can use one test tube. Be sure that the tube you are using is connected to the negative end of the battery.

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Question

How much hydrogen can be collected from this simple experiment of electrolysis? And what would be the pressure of the hydrogen gas?

Xanny01

Community Answer

That depends. The rate of the reaction (water splitting) is based on the amps of the battery and the time left to react. Typically the hydrogen would be at about sea level pressure unless you do the experiment in a really hot or cold environment.

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Why does the hydrogen collect in the negative tube

Community Answer

Due to the way the water molecules share electrons, the Hydrogen atoms are positively charged and the Oxygen atoms are negatively charged. When drawing out the gases, the positively charged Hydrogen will be attracted to the negative tube, while the negatively charged Oxygen will be attracted to the positive tube.

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Why did the gas not escape from my gas collecting tube?

Community Answer

It is hydrogen, a gas that is lighter than all others, including helium, meaning that it will stay in the test tube as long as the closed end of the tube is on top because the other gasses displace it. The reason we use helium instead of hydrogen is that it is not flammable. This is due to the fact that it is a noble gas (it has a full valence shell of 8 electrons) and is therefore non-reactive.

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Would the gas be very flammable?

Joseph_85

Top Answerer

Yes. See the Hindenburg disaster on YouTube. The zeppelins used hydrogen because of it being the lightest gas, and fairly easy to obtain. It's also why some car makers are working on hydrogen powered cars.

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is this the liquid form of hydrogen?

Community Answer

No - the hydrogen in this experiment will be gaseous

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